Indian duo of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal have been presented with easy opening rounds at the year’s first World Series tournament – the $150, 000 Tournament of Champions at New York, scheduled from January 5-14, 2016.
While the 16th seeded Chinappa faces the 29th ranked Egyptian wildcard Kanzy El Defrawy, the 13th seeded Pallikal takes on a qualifier in the first round. The draw gets tougher from there for both as Joshna is likely to meet the fifth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy next while Dipika has seventh seed Nour El Sherbini waiting for her.
India men’s No. 1 Saurav Ghosal is not playing at this tournament as he continues to recuperate from a fatigue fracture sustained at the Hong Kong Open in December.
Meanwhile, four Indians will be vying for a main draw berth at the Tournament of Champions. In men’s qualifying, former national champion Harinderpal Sandhu has a tough first round as he is up against the seventh seed and World No. 24 Alfredo Avila who won two PSA titles in 2015.
The other Indians in men’s qualifying do not have any easy draw either. The USA-based pair of Ramit Tandon and Supreet Singh square off against third seed Ali Farag and top seed Adrian Waller respectively.
In women’s qualifying, 19-year-old Tanvi Khanna – ranked 192nd – will begin her quest against the 12th seed and World No. 42 Fiona Moverly of England.
